Obituaries
Day 2011, aged 63. His funeral was held in Andover in January 2012, and he is survived by his widow Mandy and their two sons, Graham and Andrew, both of whom attended Dulwich Prep Nursery and the Prep itself. Mandy Curley contributed this obituary.
He played rugby for the OAs after WW2, and was inter alia an accomplished violinist, having played the violin in the College orchestra. He had a wonderful sense of humour, and a very good memory for jokes and funny stories. He died in Llandudno Hospital after a short illness with Joyce by his bedside, and is survived by her, his sister Audrey, son Alistair and three grandchildren. Norman’s son, Alistair, contributed significantly to this obituary.
Norman William Defriez (1936-40) 11.03.1923 – 10.12.2014
Norman Defriez was born and brought up in Brockley. He was a late developer who failed the 11-plus exam, but only two years later in 1936 at the age of 13, won an LCC scholarship to Dulwich College from Crofton Park Central School. He was in
John Robert William Frost (1942-45) 06.03.1929 – 19.12.2013
John Frost was born in Eltham to Albert John Frost, the director of a family laundry company, and his wife, Lilian May Frost, née Collins. John came to the College from the Prep and was in Sidney. While at the College, he gained his School Certificate
Spenser, and flourished at the College: academically, as well as at sport and music. His father, William, was a staunch believer in education, who also educated Norman’s younger sister, Audrey, at JAGS, despite the financial strain posed by the fees. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Norman was desperate to join the Royal Navy. He left Dulwich in 1940 after the term when the school had been evacuated to Tonbridge, but the Navy declined to take him until he was 18; so he joined Barclays Bank as a clerk, while he waited. After one year with the bank, he joined the Navy in March 1941 and after basic training at HMS Ganges, he served at sea as an Ordinary Seaman on HMS Landguard, which was then involved in convoy escort duties. Norman was soon recommended for officer training at HMS King Alfred, just outside Brighton. Only six weeks later, he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He survived the sinking of HMS Panther in the Mediterranean in 1943, was wounded on board HMS Nith at the Normandy landings in 1944 and, back in action on the refitted Nith, helped to liberate Burma, in 1945, shortly before Japan surrendered. Norman ended the war as First Lieutenant, second in command of his ship. After the war, Norman returned to London and to Barclays Bank. He passed his banking exams and transferred to the Securities business, which managed stock market investments on behalf of clients, including the staff pension fund. He was widely admired for the highest standards of integrity and honesty he always exhibited throughout his long career in the City. He finally retired from Barclays in 1983 as Director of Barclays Bank Trust Company Limited, Head of the Securities Division, and Manager of the Barclays Bank Staff Pension Fund. In 1947, Norman married Helen Maclean, the younger sister of a Scottish naval colleague, Campbell Maclean, with whom he had served during the war. They had one son, Alistair, who is also an OA (1961-69). After Helen’s death in 1990, he married again, Joyce Makin, in 1994. He also remained close to his younger sister Audrey throughout his life.
and was in the Sea Cadets and the Crusaders. He was greatly influenced by his teachers, particularly Mr Pennington, whom he visited with the family in later years, and Mr Treadgold. He still spoke of both frequently in his later years with affection and respect. Too young to have to fight in WW2, John was nevertheless called up for National Service after leaving Dulwich, and served in Palestine during the Suez crisis, for which he was awarded a campaign medal. He served an additional year with the ‘gunners’ before returning to England to work in the family laundry business, where the firm’s ethos reflected his grandfather’s Quaker values. The ‘Bon Ton’ was a well- known local business in Eltham, where John worked as Company Secretary until it was wound up in 1963 when it became clear that the advent of the home washing machine had reduced the customer base for traditional laundries below a critical level. Using the company secretarial skills he had learned, he worked in share registration for a while before finding a new long-term position with M&S at their head office in Baker Street, staying there until retirement in 1988. During most of his working life, he continued his military service in the Army Emergency Reserve (later the TAVR) eventually attaining the rank of Major and being awarded the Emergency Reserve Decoration (ERD). When he finally retired from the army to make way for younger officers, it left a gap in his life which was only partially filled by his interest in military history. John married his fiancée, Maureen, daughter of George and Ethel Joyce on his return from National Service. They had one daughter, Diane, who was born in 1953, and as a family they lived in Mottingham, near Eltham, until the early 1960s when they moved to Orpington, Kent. From his childhood, John loved sailing, and bought a small family sailing boat in 1958. The family soon joined the Medway Yacht Club, continuing as members for many years until ill health and lack of fitness restricted their sailing. They then took up caravanning instead, and John and Maureen explored much of
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